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The Exodus Of Moderate Republicans

jamie — January 9, 2013, 09:02 am EST

I have been saying for years that one of the biggest problems the GOP faces is their own purging of the moderate Republicans. That action is greatly shrinking the size of their tent, which translates to fewer voters.

This is a problem that not only I have noticed, but many others in politics. There have even been groups formed to try and bring moderates back into the Republican fold. One of the largest groups is the Republican Main Street Partnership. But the GOP is having none of that and the group has decided to actually drop Republican from it's name and start accepting moderate Democrats into their fold. This part of the article really highlights the process of making this decision:

The organization's board of directors voted Tuesday morning to scrap party identification from its title and be known simply as "The Main Street Partnership." The group's new president, former Ohio Republican Rep. Steven LaTourette, told Yahoo News that he plans to begin conversations with Blue Dog Democrats and centrist groups in the coming months.

"The goal is to try and fill the void that is the middle," LaTourette, who resigned from Congress this year, said. "The American political system is like a doughnut: You've got sides, but you don't have anything in the middle, and it would be my goal to work with Republicans and Democrats who want to find the path forward to getting things done and compromise."

LaTourette decided to retire from Congress last year, in no small part due to the shift to the right the GOP has experienced over the past several years, so he does know what he's talking about.

News like this should be a warning shot to the GOP that they need to make significant changes. We see more people leaving the Republican Party and either becoming Independent or joining the Democratic Party. That does nothing to help their prospects of retaking control of the Senate or even White House. In other words, the GOP is no longer "main street".